The "second-wave" of the Women's Movement, Feminist Movement, or the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States refers to a period of feminist activity which began during the early 1960s and lasted throughout the late 1970s.

Overview

The second wave feminism came in as a response to the late 1940s post-war boom, an era not only characterised by an unprecedented economic growth, baby boom, suburbia expansion and the triumph of capitalism, being set as the standard socio-economic model that favours middle class development, but also an era marked by a consistent effort to re-establish pre-war patriarchal social trends. This fact was clearly illustrated by the media of time, television shows such as Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver idealised domesticity, placing women in a closed sphere where they only had to fulfill the roles of housewives and mothers.[7]

Although not popularised until 20 years later, in her work The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir examined, as early as 1949, the notion of women being perceived as "other" in the patriarchal society. She went on to conclude that male-centered ideology was being further accepted as a norm and enforced simply by the ongoing development of myths, and that the fact that women are capable of getting pregnant, lactating, and menstruating is in no way a valid cause or explanation to place them as the "second sex."[8]

Furthermore, Cynthia Fuchs Epstein notes that in 1963 Betty Friedan explicitly objected to the mainstream media image of women, stating that placing women at home limited their possibilities, horizons, and was a mere waste of talent and potential. The perfect nuclear family image depicted and strongly marketed at the time, she wrote, did not reflect happiness and was rather degrading for women.[9]

Though it is widely accepted that the movement lasted from the 1960s into the late 1970s, the exact years of the movement are more difficult to pinpoint and are often disputed. The movement is usually believed to have begun in 1963, when "Mother of the Movement" Betty Friedan published her bestseller, The Feminine Mystique and President John F. Kennedy's Presidential Commission on the Status of Women released its report on gender inequality. The report, which revealed great discrimination against women in American life, along with Friedan's book, which spoke to the discontent of many women (especially housewives), led to the formation of many local, state, and federal government women's groups as well as many independent women's liberation organizations. Friedan was referencing a "movement" as early as 1964.[10]

By the early 1980s, it was largely perceived that women had met their goals and succeeded in changing social attitudes towards gender roles, repealing oppressive laws that were based on sex, integrating the boys' clubs such as Military academies, the United States armed forces, NASA, single-sex colleges, men's clubs, and the Supreme Court, and illegalizing gender discrimination. In 1982 the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution failed, only three states short of ratification, but due to the successes of the movement, however, many women felt they no longer needed an ERA[citation needed].

The movement was largely successful, the ERA viewed as the only major failure of Women's Liberation. Despite the failure of the ERA, however, efforts to ratify it have continued. Twenty-one states have ERAs in their state constitutions. Many women's groups are still active and are major political forces. Today more women earn bachelor's degrees than men,[11] half of the Ivy League presidents are women, the numbers of women in government and traditionally male-dominated fields have dramatically increased, and in 2009 women were expected to pass men in the American workforce.[12] A significant wage gap exists between the sexes, although it has been narrowing in the wake of the feminist movement.

View on popular culture

This wave of feminism helped to educate women and allowed them to see their personal lives as politicized and reflective of the sexist structure of power seen throughout society. “One project of second wave feminism was to create ‘positive’ images of women, to act as a counterweight to the dominant images circulating in popular culture and to raise women’s consciousness of their oppressions.(Arrow. Michelle. 2007).

Feminists during the movement viewed popular culture as just another example of gender equalities that tried to prove the idea that woman are classified into false images of how they should act and the roles they should play. They believed that the mass media was influencing women to act in certain ways. Artist Helen Reddy’s song “I Am Woman” played a large role in popular culture and became the feminist anthem; Reddy came to be known as a "feminist poster girl" or a "feminist icon".[13] Throughout second wave feminism other organizations started to form, such as the NOW and different black organizations emerged.

1963

The Commission's report finds discrimination against women in every aspect of American life and outlines plans to achieve equality. Specific recommendations for women in the workplace include fair hiring practices, paid maternity leave, and affordable childcare.

Twenty years after it is first proposed, the Equal Pay Act establishes equality of pay for men and women performing equal work. However, it does not cover domestics, agricultural workers, executives, administrators or professionals.

The case Weeks v. Southern Belle marks a major triumph in the fight against restrictive labor laws and company regulations on the hours and conditions of women’s work, opening many previously male-only jobs to women.

The "Woman Question" is raised for the first time at a Students for Democratic Society (SDS) conference.

1967

Executive Order 11375 expands President Johnson's 1965 affirmative action policy to cover discrimination based on sex, resulting in federal agencies and contractors taking active measures to ensure that all women as well as minorities have access to educational and employment opportunities equal to white males.

Women’s liberation groups begin springing up all over the nation.

NOW begins petitioning the EEOC to end sex-segregated want ads and adopts a Bill of Rights for Women.

The EEOC rules sex-segregated help wanted ads in newspapers illegal, a ruling which is upheld in 1973 by the Supreme Court. Women now are able to apply for higher-paying jobs previously opened only to men.

New York feminists bury a dummy of "Traditional Womanhood" at the all-women's Jeanette Rankin Brigade demonstration against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C.

For the first time, feminists use the slogan "Sisterhood is Powerful."

1969

Members of Redstockings disrupt a hearing on abortion laws of the New York Legislature when the panel of witnesses turns out to be 14 men and a nun. The groups demands repeal, not reform, of abortion laws.

Redstockings popularizes slogans such as "Sisterhood is Powerful", and "The Personal is Political" which become buzzwords of the feminist movement.

California adopts a "no fault" divorce law which allows couples to divorce by mutual consent. It is the first state to do so; by 1985 every state has adopted a similar law. Legislation is also passed regarding equal division of common property.

Sisterhood is Powerful

A Women's Liberation march in Washington, D.C., 1970

1970

Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co., a U.S. Court of Appeals rules jobs held by men and women must be "substantially equal" but not "identical" to fall under the protection of the Equal Pay Act. It is illegal for employers to change the job titles of women workers in order to pay them less than men.

On August 26, the 50th anniversary of woman suffrage in the U.S., tens of thousands of women across the nation participate in the Women's Strike for Equality, organized by Betty Friedan, to demand equal rights.[14]

Feminist leader Bella Abzug is elected to Congress, famously declaring "A woman's place is in the House".

1971

Every president has published a proclamation for Women's Equality Day since 1971 when legislation was first introduced in Congress by Bella Abzug. This resolution was passed designating August 26 of each year as Women's Equality Day:

The full text of resolution reads:

Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971 Designating August 26 of each year as Women's Equality Day

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and

WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26 of each year is designated as "Women's Equality Day," and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women's rights took place.

Rise of an ERA and educational and professional equality

1972

The Equal Rights Amendment is reintroduced into the U.S. Congress and is passed by Congress with few members voting against it; it is then sent to the states for ratification.

The amendment reads:

"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

"In this Land of the Free, it is right, and by nature it ought to be, that all men and all women are equal before the law.

Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, to remind all Americans that it is fitting and just to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment adopted by the Congress of the United States of America, in order to secure legal equality for all women and men, do hereby designate and proclaim August 26, 1975, as Women's Equality Day."

In Eisenstadt v. Baird the Supreme Court rules that the right to privacy includes the right to use contraceptives even if unmarried.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, passed by Congresswoman Patsy Mink of Hawaii, states "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." This revolutionary legislation ended sex descrimination in high schools and colleges.

Headed and edited by journalist and activist Gloria Steinem, Ms. magazine becomes an independent publication, and is considered the magazine of the feminist movement. (It was originally published in New York Magazine, for which Steinem was a columnist.)

Phyllis Schlafly attacks the Equal Rights Amendment in her newsletter and forms the STOP ERA organization.

1974

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination in consumer credit practices on the basis of sex, race, marital status, religion, national origin, age, or receipt of public assistance.

In Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that employers cannot justify paying women lower wages because that is what they traditionally received under the "going market rate." A wage differential occurring "simply because men would not work at the low rates paid women" is unacceptable.

First Lady Betty Ford moves to the front of the feminist movement as she talks candidly about her pro-choice views and feminist stances. A moderate Republican, Mrs. Ford actively lobbies state legislatures to ratify the ERA, earining the ire of conservatives, who dubb her "No Lady".

Mexican-American Women's National Association is formed as a Latina feminist organization.

Over 1,000 colleges are now offering women's studies courses (with 80 having full programs) and 230 women's centers on college campuses provide support services for female students.

Time declares: "[F]eminism has transcended the feminist movement. In 1975 the women's drive penetrated every layer of society, matured beyond ideology to a new status of general — and sometimes unconscious — acceptance." The Time Person of the Year award goes to American Women, celebrating the successes of the feminist movement.[17]

1976

The first marital rape law is enacted in Nebraska, making it illegal for a husband to rape his wife.

Supreme Court decision agrees with General Electric that the company's failure to cover pregnancy-related disability is not discriminatory.

Both the House and Senate pass the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal Medicaid money for abortions.

Many professional and women's organizations decide to boycott those states that have not passed the ERA and to hold their conferences elsewhere; the pressure is on for states to ratify the amendment before the 1979 deadline.

1977

First LadyRosalynn Smith Carter takes an active role in government, heading policy proposals and sitting in on cabinet meetings, as more women serve in White House staff positions and in the U.S. Cabinet than ever before.

1978

For the first time in the history of the United States, more women than men enter college.

The Oregon v. Rideout decision leads to many states allowing prosecution for marital and cohabitation rape.[18]

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against pregnant women, stating a woman cannot be fired or denied a job or a promotion because she is or may become pregnant, nor can she be forced to take a pregnancy leave if she is willing and able to work.

ERA's deadline arrives with the ERA still three state short of ratification; Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman leads a successful bill to extend the ERA's deadline to 1982.

1982

The ERA fails to be ratified, with only three more states needed to ratify it; Reagan establishes a commission to find ways to ensure equality without an ERA.[citation needed]

Post-feminism in the 1980s

Twenty-two states add Equal Rights Amendments to their state constitutions and the ERA campaign continues to this day; most supporters hold that the ERA can still be added to the Constitution if ratified by three remaining states.

Seven Sisters Colleges

Two of the Seven Sister colleges made transitions during and after the 1960s. The first, Radcliffe College, merged with Harvard University. Beginning in 1963, students at Radcliffe received Harvard diplomas signed by the presidents of Radcliffe and Harvard and joint commencement exercises began in 1970. The same year, several Harvard and Radcliffe dormitories began swapping students experimentally and in 1972 full co-residence was instituted. The departments of athletics of both schools merged shortly thereafter.

In 1977, Harvard and Radcliffe signed an agreement which put undergraduate women entirely in Harvard College. In 1999 Radcliffe College was dissolved and Harvard University assumed full responsibility over the affairs of female undergraduates. Radcliffe is now the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in Women's Studies at Harvard University. The second, Vassar College, declined an offer to merge with Yale University and instead became coeducational in 1969.

The remaining Seven Sisters decided against coeducation. Mount Holyoke College engaged in a lengthy debate under the presidency of David Truman over the issue of coeducation. On November 6, 1971, "after reviewing an exhaustive study on coeducation, the board of trustees decided unanimously that Mount Holyoke should remain a women's college, and a group of faculty was charged with recommending curricular changes that would support the decision."[19]Smith College also made a similar decision in 1971.[20]

In 1969, Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College (then all male) developed a system of sharing residential colleges. When Haverford became coeducational in 1980, Bryn Mawr discussed the possibly of coeducation as well, but decided against it.[21] In 1983, Columbia University began admitting women after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard College for a merger along the lines of Harvard and Radcliffe (Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia since 1900, but it continues to be independently governed). Wellesley College also decided against coeducation during this time.

In what was her first opinion written for the Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stated, "In limited circumstances, a gender-based classification favoring one sex can be justified if it intentionally and directly assists members of the sex that is disproportionately burdened." She went on to point out that there are a disproportionate number of women who are nurses, and that denying admission to men "lends credibility to the old view that women, not men, should become nurses, and makes the assumption that nursing is a field for women a self-fulfilling prophecy."[23]

In the dissenting opinions, Justices Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., and William H. Rehnquist suggested that the result of this ruling would be the elimination of publicly supported single-sex educational opportunities. This suggestion has proven to be accurate as there are no public women's colleges in the United States today and, as a result of United States v. Virginia, the last all-male public university in the United States, Virginia Military Institute, was required to admit women. The ruling did not require the university to change its name to reflect its coeducational status and it continues a tradition of academic and leadership development for women by providing liberal arts and professional education to women and men.[24]

Mills College

On May 3, 1990, the Trustees of Mills College announced that they had voted to admit male students.[25] This decision led to a two-week student and staff strike, accompanied by numerous displays of non-violent protests by the students.[26][27] At one point, nearly 300 students blockaded the administrative offices and boycotted classes.[28] On May 18, the Trustees met again to reconsider the decision,[29] leading finally to a reversal of the vote.[30]

Careers

ALSSA (Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association), now known as the Association of Flight Attendants fought a long battle to get equal rights in employment. Airline stewardesses were fired once they were married; since the average age of a woman getting married was 20, this did not provide a very long career for air stewardesses.[citation needed]

Media

Media representations of women have been much discussed by advocates of second-wave feminism. Some have argued that popular magazines during the 1960s represented a repressive force, imposing damaging images on vulnerable, impressionable American women[citation needed]. Many magazines defined the role of a housewife as exciting and creative and often featured articles on baking. Magazines also had positive influences on the movement, and published articles that encouraged women to live a fulfilled life. Reader's Digest, Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Home Companion, and Life Magazine, are just some of the magazines that influenced women during the 1960’s. There were also a few African American magazines, such as Coronet, which featured articles on strong black women who balanced a career and a family.

Success

Through organizations such as NOW, WEAL and PCSW, discrimination in the work place on the basis of sex was made illegal. The impact of media allowed the spread of feminist ideals through articles, newspapers, television and books.

The "second-wave" of the Women's Movement, Feminist Movement, or the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States refers to a period of feminist activity which began during the early 1960s and lasted throughout the late 1970s. Whereas first-wave feminism focused mainly on overturning legal (de jure) obstacles to equality (i.e. voting rights, property rights), second-wave feminism addressed a wide range of issues, including unofficial (de facto) inequalities, official legal inequalities, sexuality, family, the workplace, and, perhaps most controversially, reproductive rights.[1]

Though it is widely accepted that the movement lasted from the 1960s into the late 1970s, the exact years of the movement are more difficult to pinpoint and are often disputed. The movement is usually believed to have begun in 1963, when "Mother of the Movement" Betty Friedan published her bestseller, The Feminine Mystique and President John F. Kennedy's Presidential Commission on the Status of Women released its report on gender inequality. The report, which revealed great discrimination against women in American life, along with Friedan's book, which spoke to the discontent of many women (especially housewives), led to the formation of many local, state, and federal government women's groups as well as many independent women's liberation organizations. Friedan was referencing a "movement" as early as 1964.[2]

Amongst the most significant legal victories of the movement after the formation of NOW were a 1967 Executive Order extending full Affirmative Action rights to women, Title IX and the Women's Educational Equity Act (1972 and 1975, educational equality), Title X (1970, health and family planning), the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (1974), the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, the illegalization of marital rape and the legalization of no-fault divorce in all states, a 1975 law requiring the U.S. Military Academies to admit women, and many Supreme Court cases, perhaps most notably, Reed v. Reed of 1971 and Roe v. Wade of 1973. However, the changing of the social attitudes towards women are usually considered the greatest success of the women's movement.

By the early 1980s it was largely perceived that women had met their goals and succeeded in changing social attitudes towards gender roles, repealing oppressive laws that were based on sex, integrating the boys' clubs such as Military academies, the United States Military, NASA, single-sex colleges, men's clubs, and the Supreme Court, and illegalizing gender discrimination. In 1982 the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution failed, only three states short of ratification, but due to the successes of the movement, however, many women felt they no longer needed an ERA.

The movement was largely successful, the ERA viewed as the only major failure of Women's Liberation. Despite the failure of the ERA, however, efforts to ratify it have continued. Twenty-one states have ERAs in their state constitutions. Many women's groups are still active and are major political forces. Today more women earn bachelor's degrees than men [3], half of the Ivy League presidents are women, the numbers of women in government and traditionally male-dominated fields have dramatically increased, and in 2009 women are expected to pass men in the American work force.[4] A significant wage gap exists between the sexes, although it has been narrowing in the wake of the feminist movement.

Overview

The second wave feminism came in as a response to the late 1940s post-war boom, an era not only characterised by an unprecedented economic growth, baby boom, suburbia expansion and the triumph of capitalism, being set as the standard socio-economic model that favours middle-class development, but also an era marked by a consistent effort to re-establish pre-war patriarchal social trends. This fact was clearly illustrated by the media of time, television shows such as Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver idealised domesticity, placing women in a closed sphere where they only had to fulfill the roles of housewives and mothers.[5] Although not popularised until 20 years later, in her work The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir examined, as early as 1949, the notion of women being perceived as "other" in the patriarchal society. She went on to conclude that male-centered ideology was being further accepted as a norm and enforced simply by the ongoing development of myths, and that the fact that women are capable of getting pregnant, lactating, and menstruating is in no way a valid cause or explanation to place them as the "second sex".[6] Furthermore, Cynthia Fuchs Epstein notes that in 1963 Betty Friedan explicitly objected to the mainstream media image of women, stating that placing women at home limited their possibilities, horizons, and was a mere waste of talent and potential. The perfect nuclear family image depicted and strongly marketed at the time in reality did not reflect happiness and was rather degrading for women.[7]

View on Popular Culture

This wave of feminism helped to educate women and allowed them to see their personal lives as politicized and reflective of the sexist structure of power seen throughout society. “One project of second wave feminism was to create ‘positive’ images of women, to act as a counterweight to the dominant images circulating in popular culture and to raise women’s consciousness of their oppressions.” [8]
Feminists during the movement viewed popular culture as just another example of gender equalities that tried to prove the idea that woman are classified into false images of how they should act and the roles they should play. They believed that the mass media was influencing women to act in certain ways. Artist Helen Reddy’s song “I Am Woman” played a large role in popular culture and in helping support the feminist movement. Her lyrics
“I am woman, hear me roar in numbers too big to ignore and I know too much to go back and pretend ’cause I’ve heard it all before and I’ve been down there on the floor No one’s ever gonna keep me down again Oh yes I am wise but it’s wisdom born of pain. Yes, I’ve paid the price but look how much I gained If I have to, I can do anything I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman”

empowered women and helped many break out of their ordinary roles and fight for their right to be treated as equals.It became the feminist anthem and Reddy came to be known as a ‘feminist poster girl’ or a ‘feminist icon’.[9] Throughout second wave feminism other organizations started to form, such as the NOW and different black organizations emerged.

1963

The Commission's report finds discrimination against women in every aspect of American life and outlines plans to achieve equality. Specific recommendations for women in the workplace include fair hiring practices, paid maternity leave, and affordable child care.

Twenty years after it is first proposed, the Equal Pay Act establishes equality of pay for men and women performing equal work. However, it does not cover domestics, agricultural workers, executives, administrators or professionals.

1965

Casey Hayden and Mary King circulate a memo about sexism in Civil Rights Movement.

The Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut strikes down the only remaining state law banning the use of contraceptives by married couples.

The case Weeks v. Southern Belle marks a major triumph in the fight against restrictive labor laws and company regulations on the hours and conditions of women’s work, opening many previously male-only jobs to women.

The "Woman Question" is raised for the first time at a Students for Democratic Society (SDS) conference.

EEOC commissioners are appointed to enforce the Civil Rights Act. Among them there is only one woman, Aileen Hernandez, a future president of NOW.

The Time is NOW

1966

Twenty-eight women, among them Betty Friedan, found the National Organization for Women (NOW) to function as a civil rights organization for women. Betty Friedan becomes its first President. The group is the largest women's group in the U.S. and pursues its goals through extensive legislative lobbying, litigation, and public demonstrations.

1967

Executive Order 11375 expands President Johnson's 1965 affirmative action policy to cover discrimination based on sex, resulting in federal agencies and contractors taking active measures to ensure that all women as well as minorities have access to educational and employment opportunities equal to white males.

Women’s Liberation groups begin springing up all over the nation.

NOW begins petitioning the EEOC to end sex-segregated want ads and adopts a Bill of Rights for Women.

Coretta Scott King assumes leadership of the African-American Civil Rights Movement following the death of her husband, and expands the movement's platform to include women's rights. Shirley Chisholm is elected to the United States Congress that same year, the first black congresswoman.

The EEOC rules sex-segregated help wanted ads in newspapers illegal, a ruling which is upheld in 1973 by the Supreme Court. Women now are able to apply for higher-paying jobs previously opened only to men.

New York feminists bury a dummy of "Traditional Womanhood" at the all-women's Jeanette Rankin Brigade demonstration against the war in Vietnam in Washington, D.C.

For the first time, feminists use the slogan "Sisterhood is Powerful."

The first public speakout against abortion laws is held in New York City.

Notes from the First Year, a women's liberation theoretical journal is published by the New York Radical Women.

1969

Members of Redstockings disrupt a hearing on abortion laws of the New York State legislature when the panel of witnesses turns out to be fourteen men and a nun. Repeal, not reform, of abortion laws is demanded.

Redstockings popularizes slogans such as "Sisterhood is Powerful", and "The Personal is Political" which become buzzwords of the feminist movement.

California adopts a "no fault" divorce law which allows couples to divorce by mutual consent. It is the first state to do so; by 1985 every state has adopted a similar law. Legislation is also passed regarding equal division of common property.

Sisterhood is Powerful

1970

Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co., a U.S. Court of Appeals rules jobs held by men and women must be "substantially equal" but not "identical" to fall under the protection of the Equal Pay Act. It is illegal for employers to change the job titles of women workers in order to pay them less than men.

Sisterhood Is Powerful, An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement edited by Robin Morgan is published.

The women's health book Our Bodies first published as a newsprint booklet for 35 cents.

On August 26th, the 50th anniversary of woman suffrage in the U.S., tens of thousands of women across the nation participate in the "Women's Strike for Equality", organized by Betty Friedan, to demand equal rights.[10]

Feminist leader Bella Abzug is elected to Congress, famously declaring "A woman's place is in the House".

President Nixon vetoes the Comprehensive Child Development Act, which would have established federally funded childcare centers.

AFL-CIO meets to discuss the status of women in unions. It endorses the ERA and opposes state protective legislation.

1971

Every president has published a proclamation for Women's Equality Day since 1971 when legislation was first introduced in Congress by Bella Abzug. This resolution was passed designating August 26 of each year as Women's Equality Day:

The full text of resolution reads:

Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971 Designating August 26 of each year as Women's Equality Day

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and

WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26 of each year is designated as "Women's Equality Day," and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women's rights took place.

Rise of an ERA and educational and professional equality

1972

The Equal Rights Amendment is reintroduced into the U.S. Congress and is passed by Congress with few members voting against it; it is then sent to the states for ratification.

The amendment reads:

"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

President Ford, in support for the Equal Rights Amendment, issued Presidential Proclamation 4383"

"In this Land of the Free, it is right, and by nature it ought to be, that all men and all women are equal before the law.

Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, to remind all Americans that it is fitting and just to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment adopted by the Congress of the United States of America, in order to secure legal equality for all women and men, do hereby designate and proclaim August 26, 1975, as Women's Equality Day."

In Eisenstadt v. Baird the Supreme Court rules that the right to privacy includes the right to use contraceptives even if unmarried.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, passed by Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink of Hawaii, states "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." This revolutionary legislation ended sex descrimination in high schools and colleges.

Headed and edited by journalist and activist Gloria Steinem, Ms. magazine becomes an independent publication, and is considered the magazine of the feminist movement. (It was originally published in New York Magazine, for which Steinem was a columnist.)

Congress passes Senator and former Vice President Hubert Humphrey's bill establishing the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children. The program is made permanent in 1975.

1973

After defeating Margaret Court in a tennis match, Bobby Riggs declares that men are superior to women, and calls Billie Jean King to a Battle of the Sexes tennis match, in which King easily defeats Riggs, leading to the celebration of feminists everywhere. The Battle of the Sexes remains the most watched tennis match in the history of the world.

Battered women's shelters open in the United States (in Tucson, Arizona and St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Supreme Court holds that sex-segregated help wanted ads are illegal. (See "1968")

Puerto Rican women hold their first conference.

In San Francisco, California, Margo St. James organizes Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE) to improve working conditions of prostitutes.

Phyllis Schlafly attacks the Equal Rights Amendment in her newsletter and forms the STOP ERA organization. What once looked like it was on its way to easy ratification now had run into fierce opposition.

1974

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination in consumer credit practices on the basis of sex, race, marital status, religion, national origin, age, or receipt of public assistance.

In Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that employers cannot justify paying women lower wages because that is what they traditionally received under the "going market rate." A wage differential occurring "simply because men would not work at the low rates paid women" is unacceptable.

First Lady Betty Ford moves to the front of the feminist movement as she talks candidly about her pro-choice views and feminist stances. A moderate Republican, Mrs. Ford actively lobbies state legislatures to ratify the ERA, earining the ire of conservative who dubb her "No Lady".

Mexican-American Women's National Association is formed as a Latina feminist organization.

Over a thousand colleges are now offering women's studies courses (with eighty having full programs) and 230 women's centers on college campuses provide support services for female students.

Elaine Noble becomes the first openly homosexual candidate elected to a state legislature. She was elected in Massachusetts.

"Every layer of society"

1975

The U.N. sponsors the First International Conference on Women in Mexico City.

For the first time, federal employees' salaries can be garnished for child support and alimony.

The National Right to Life PAC organized to stop women from obtaining abortions.

Phyllis Schlafly organizes her Eagle Forum as an alternative to "women's lib". The forum favors support of school prayer, law and order, and a strong national defense. It opposes against busing, federally funded child care, and abortion.

Time declares: "[F]eminism has transcended the feminist movement. In 1975 the women's drive penetrated every layer of society, matured beyond ideology to a new status of general—and sometimes unconscious—acceptance." The Time Person of the Year award goes to American Women, celebrating the successes of the feminist movement. [13]

1976

The first marital rape law is enacted in Nebraska, making it illegal for a husband to rape his wife.

Congresswoman Barbara Charline Jordan of Texas, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress from the former Confederate States of America, who had received widespread recognition as a key member of the House Judiciary Committee during President Nixon's impeachment, delivers the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention. She is the first black and first woman to address the convention as a keynote speaker, famously declaring that what was different and special about that night was that "I, Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker".

Supreme Court decision agrees with General Electric that the company's failure to cover pregnancy-related disability is not discriminatory.

Both the House and Senate pass the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits the use of federal Medicaid money for abortions.

Many professional and women's organizations decide to boycott those states that have not passed the ERA and to hold their conferences elsewhere; the pressure is on for states to ratify the amendment before the 1979 deadline.

1977

New First LadyRosalynn Smith Carter takes an active role in government, heading policy proposals and sitting in on cabinet meetings, as more women serve in White House staff positions and in the U.S. Cabinet than ever before.

The First National Women's Conference is held in Houston, Texas. Twenty-thousand representatives, women from all states, gather to pass a far-reaching National Plan of Action.

1978

For the first time in the history of the United States, more women than men enter college.

The Oregon v. Rideout decision leads to many states allowing prosecution for marital and cohabitation rape. [14]

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against pregnant women, stating a woman cannot be fired or denied a job or a promotion because she is or may become pregnant, nor can she be forced to take a pregnancy leave if she is willing and able to work.

ERA's deadline arrives with the ERA still three state short of ratification; Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman leads a successful bill to extend the ERA's deadline to 1982.

The 1980s and the decline of the second-wave

1980

For the first time since the passage of the ERA, an anti-ERA President is elected.Template:Fact

1982

The ERA fails to be ratified, with only three more states needed to ratify it; President Reagan establishes a commission to find ways to ensure equality without an ERA.Template:Fact

Post-feminism in the 1980s

The extreme and forceful activism of the '60s and '70s comes to a hault, most people believing that all the major goals of the feminist movement have been met, and thanks to laws and court decisions equality has been guaranteed without an ERA; however, twenty-two states add Equal Rights Amendments to their state constitutions and the ERA campaigan continues to this day; most supporters hold that the ERA can still be added to the Constitution if ratified by three remaining states.

Education

Title IX

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Coeducation

One debate which developed in the United States during this time period revolved around the question of coeducation. Most men's colleges in the United States adopted coeducation, often by merging with women's colleges. In addition, some women's colleges adopted coeducation, while others maintained a single-sex student body.

Seven Sisters Colleges

Two of the Seven Sister colleges made transitions during and after the 1960s. The first, Radcliffe College, merged with Harvard University. Beginning in 1963, students at Radcliffe received Harvard diplomas signed by the presidents of Radcliffe and Harvard and joint commencement exercises began in 1970. The same year, several Harvard and Radcliffe dormitories began swapping students experimentally and in 1972 full co-residence was instituted. The departments of athletics of both schools merged shortly thereafter. In 1977, Harvard and Radcliffe signed an agreement which put undergraduate women entirely in Harvard College. In 1999 Radcliffe College was dissolved and Harvard University assumed full responsibility over the affairs of female undergraduates. Radcliffe is now the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in Women's Studies at Harvard University. The second, Vassar College, declined an offer to merge with Yale University and instead became coeducational in 1969.

The remaining Seven Sisters decided against coeducation. Mount Holyoke College engaged in a lengthy debate under the presidency of David Truman over the issue of coeducation. On November 6, 1971, "after reviewing an exhaustive study on coeducation, the board of trustees decided unanimously that Mount Holyoke should remain a women's college, and a group of faculty was charged with recommending curricular changes that would support the decision."[15]Smith College also made a similar decision in 1971.[16] In 1969, Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College (then all male) developed a system of sharing residential colleges. When Haverford became coeducational in 1980, Bryn Mawr discussed the possibly of coeducation as well, but decided against it.[17] In 1983, Columbia University began admitting women after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard College for a merger along the lines of Harvard and Radcliffe (Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia since 1900, but it continues to be independently governed). Wellesley College also decided against coeducation during this time.

In what was her first opinion written for the Supreme Court, Justice O'Connor stated, "In limited circumstances, a gender-based classification favoring one sex can be justified if it intentionally and directly assists members of the sex that is disproportionately burdened." She went on to point out that there are a disproportionate number of women who are nurses, and that denying admission to men "lends credibility to the old view that women, not men, should become nurses, and makes the assumption that nursing is a field for women a self-fulfilling prophecy."[19]

In the dissenting opinions, Justices Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., and William H. Rehnquist suggested that the result of this ruling would be the elimination of publicly supported single-sex educational opportunities. This suggestion has proven to be accurate as there are no public women's colleges in the United States today and as a result of United States v. Virginia, the last all-male public university in the United States, Virginia Military Institute, was required to admit women. The ruling did not require the university to change its name to reflect its coeducational status and it continues a tradition of academic and leadership development for women by providing liberal arts and professional education to women and men.[20]

Mills College

On May 3, 1990, the Trustees of Mills College announced that they had voted to admit male students.[21] This decision led to a two-week student and staff strike, accompanied by numerous displays of non-violent protests by the students.[22][23] At one point, nearly 300 students blockaded the administrative offices and boycotted classes.[24] On May 18, the Trustees met again to reconsider the decision,[25] leading finally to a reversal of the vote.[26]

Careers

While women's education was improving, career prospects for women were also widening thanks to such organisations as ALSSA (Air Line Stewards and Stewardesses Association) who fought a long battle to get equal rights in employment. Airline stewardesses were fired once they were married; since the average age of a woman getting married was 20, this did not provide a very long career for air stewardesses. Dusty Roads and Nancy Collins campaigned for age restrictions on air stewardesses to be removed, and this coincidentally brought about the battle for equal rights in the work place.Template:Fact

Media

Media representations of women have been much discussed by advocates of second-wave feminism. Some have argued that popular magazines during the 1960s represented a repressive force, imposing damaging images on vulnerable, impressionable American womenTemplate:Fact. Many magazines defined the role of a housewife as exciting and creative and often featured articles on baking. Magazines also had positive influences on the movement, and published articles that encouraged women to live a fulfilled life. Reader's Digest, Ladies' Home Journal, Woman's Home Companion, and Life Magazine, are just some of the magazines that influenced women during the 1960’s. There were also a few African American magazines, such as Coronet, which featured articles on strong black women who balanced a career and a family.

Success

It is argued by many[who?] that second-wave feminism saw a transformation of consciousness and changed how most American women saw themselves and the world around them. Through organizations such as NOW, WEAL and PCSW, discrimination in the work place on the basis of sex was made illegal. The impact of media allowed the spread of feminist ideals through articles, newspapers, television and books, and this made it acceptable to talk about women's issuesTemplate:Fact.